File consists of an annual 296 page Municipal Handbook containing official information relative to the administration of the City of Toronto, for citizens of Toronto and others. Book is dated May 1, 1957. It is signed by Mayor Nathan Phillips for Mrs. Edna Louise Sutherland.

File consists of three items: a message from Nathan Phillips on the occasion of the centennial celebration of the founding of the Jewish community of Toronto, dated Sept 5, 1956; a list of officers belonging to the Jewish National Club; and a pamplet for the Jewish National Brotherhood with a smiliar list of names.

File consists of images taken at a meeting of the Canada Israel Development Corporation at the Primrose Club. The images depict several men seated at a table, speaking into a microphone, including Mark Levy.

Name Access

Primrose Club (Toronto, Ont.)

Subjects

Meetings

Speeches, addresses, etc

Repro Restriction

Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the Archives to obtain permission prior to use.

File consists of two images taken at a State of Israel Bonds meeting at the Primrose Club. The images depict several people seated at a meeting table, as well as a group photograph of three individuals holding State of Israel Bonds certificates.

Name Access

Primrose Club (Toronto, Ont.)

Subjects

Meetings

Repro Restriction

Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the Archives to obtain permission prior to use.

File consists of images taken at a State of Israel Bonds meeting held at the Primrose Club. The images depict speakers at the podium, and an image of the head table. The banner behind the head table reads: celebrate the year of Chai - buy Israel bonds.

Name Access

Primrose Club (Toronto, Ont.)

Repro Restriction

Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the Archives to obtain permission prior to use.

File consists of four group photographs taken at Toronto City Hall and Queen's Park. The photographs depict Mayor Nathan Phillips and members of the Zionist Organization of Canada, Central Region, welcoming Israel's Ambassador to Canada in the Mayor's office.
Identified are Allan Grossman, David Peters Q.C., Yaacov Herzog, Israeli Ambassador to Canada; Mayor Nathan Phillips, Harry Zifkin, and Dr. George J. Liban.

Name Access

Grossman, Allan, 1910-1991

Phillips, Nathan, 1892-1976

Repro Restriction

Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the Archives to obtain permission prior to use.

File consists of images taken at a Zionist Organization of Canada, Central Region meeting held at the Primrose Club. The guest speaker was Leon Dultzin, executive member of the World Zionist Organization. The images depict members of ZOC sitting and standing with Leon Dultzin.

Name Access

Primrose Club (Toronto, Ont.)

Repro Restriction

Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the Archives to obtain permission prior to use.

The Primrose Club was founded in Toronto in 1907 as the Cosmopolitan Club, an elite Jewish men's social club. In 1959, the club's building at 41 Willcocks Street was expropriated by the University of Toronto (and currently houses the university's Faculty Club), and the club subsequently moved to a new building at Russell Road & St. Clair, designed by Kaplan & Sprachman. It has since been demolished and a condominium has been put up in its place by Ken Rotenberg, a Toronto developer.

Scope and Content

File consists of one photograph of Phil Givens meeting with a group of Police Chiefs. Identified in the photograph are (left to right): James Mackie, Harold Adamson, Jack Ackroyd, Jack Marks, Phil Givens.

The Primrose Club was founded in Toronto in 1907 as the Cosmopolitan Club, an elite Jewish men's social club. In 1959, the club's building at 41 Willcocks Street was expropriated by the University of Toronto (and currently houses the university's Faculty Club), and the club subsequently moved to a new building at Russell Road & St. Clair, designed by Kaplan & Sprachman. It has since been demolished and a condominium has been put up in its place by Ken Rotenberg, a Toronto developer.

Scope and Content

File consists of one photograph of Phil Givens attending a luncheon at the Primrose Club. Identified in the photograph are (left to right): John Bassett, Phil Givens, and George Hees.

The Primrose Club was founded in Toronto in 1907 as the Cosmopolitan Club, an elite Jewish men's social club. In 1959, the club's building at 41 Willcocks Street was expropriated by the University of Toronto (and currently houses the university's Faculty Club), and the club subsequently moved to a new building at Russell Road & St. Clair, designed by Kaplan & Sprachman. It has since been demolished and a condominium has been put up in its place by Ken Rotenberg, a Toronto developer.

Scope and Content

File consists of one photograph of Phil and Min Givens attending an event at the Primrose Club.

Harold Solomon Kaplan (1895-1973) was a Toronto-based architect who, in partnership with Abraham Sprachman in the firm Kaplan & Sprachman, was well-known for the design of Art deco and Art moderne movie theatres in the 1930s and 1940s and for designing buildings for Jewish communities across Canada from the 1930s to the 1960s.

Kaplan was born 10 Sept. 1895, in Bucharest, Romania. At the age of three, he and his widowed mother, Tillie Hohan, moved to London, England, and in 1902 they moved to Toronto where his mother subsequently married Frank Kaplan. While in his teens, Kaplan spent time in Philadelphia living with an uncle and studying draftsmanship. Upon returning to Toronto, Kaplan attended Toronto Technical School where he took courses in architecture and building construction. He also served an apprenticeship with the architect Henry Simpson. In 1919-1920, Kaplan worked for the firm of Page & Warrington, before establishing Kaplan & Sprachman with Abraham Sprachman in 1922. In 1923, he married Dorothy Spain. They had two daughters, Phyllis (Pepper) and Ruthetta (Reiss).

Kaplan & Sprachman were best known for their more than 300 movie theatre projects completed from the 1920s to the 1960s, designing and renovating theatres across Canada in progressive "modern" styles and using innovative building materials. In 1937, they were awarded the bronze medal in the Sixth Biennial Toronto Exhibition for their interiors to the Eglinton Theatre (400 Eglinton Ave. W.) in Toronto, considered to be the finest example of their Art deco design work.

Over the course of their careers, they designed many synagogues for the Jewish community, such as the Anshei Minsk and Shaarei Shomayim synagogues in Toronto, Beth Israel Synagogue, Edmonton, and Beth Israel Synagogue in Vancouver. They also designed the new Mount Sinai Hospital, the Oakdale Golf & Country Club, the Jewish Home for the Aged (Baycrest), and the Jewish Community Centres of Toronto and Hamilton. Their design for the Oakdale Golf & Country Club was chosen as a Canadian entrant in the Arts Competition of the 14th Olympic Games in London, 1948.

In addition to the projects already mentioned, Kaplan & Sprachman worked on retail stores, warehouses and factories, apartment buildings, and single family residences. Their partnership continued until 1965, when the firm of Kaplan & Sprachman was dissolved as of 30 October 1965. Kaplan continued to work as an architectural consultant for several years after this date. Harold Kaplan died 1 April 1973 in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Kaplan was a member of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, the Ontario Association of Architects, and the Province of Quebec Association of Architects. Kaplan & Sprachman's contribution to the architecture profession was recognized by the Ontario Association of Architects when both Kaplan's and Abraham Sprachman's names were entered on the Honor Roll for prominent members of the profession, established by the association in 1989.

Scope and Content

The fonds documents Kaplan's work as an architect from the 1930s to the 1960s with Kaplan & Sprachman and some of the consulting work he undertook after the dissolution of the partnership in 1965, primarily through architectural drawings and photographs. The preponderance of the materials relates to a series of renovations of Loew's Yonge Street Theatre (189 Yonge St., Toronto, now the Elgin Theatre) and the Uptown Theatre (764 Yonge St., Toronto, just South of Bloor St.) between the 1930s and 1960s, and Kaplan & Sprachman's design of the Primrose Club (Russell Hill Rd at St. Clair Ave., Toronto) in 1958-1959. There is also a large number of photographs by commercial photographers of movie theatres designed or renovated by Kaplan & Sprachman.

Project records are arranged chronologically, with sub-sub-series defined for successive projects at the same site. Some of the materials document project proposals which were not carried out (e.g., proposed renovations of the Winter Garden Theatre).

Other series in the fonds contain business correspondence and newspaper clippings concerning Kaplan & Sprachman projects, and a small amount of personal material such as family photographs, awards Kaplan received over the years for his design work and a colour photocopy of the invitation to Kaplan's stag party in 1923.

Some of the blueprints and drawings are torn or water-damaged. All of the architectural drawings are currently stored in rolls.

Related Material

Accession 2003-7-1 contains additional photographs of buildings designed or renovated by Kaplan & Sprachman, as well as a copy of a published inventory of Kaplan & Sprachman movie theatre projects, compiled by Mandel Sprachman from Kaplan & Sprachman records

Photograph of Carl Keyfetz addressing City Council with Mayor Nathan Phillips seated at the head of the table.

Carl was born in 1907 to Leah and Mark Keyfetz who was a Toronto Jewish pioneer arriving in 1887.

Carl Keyfetz was co-founder of the 59th Toronto Troup in 1921, the 1st Jewish Boy Scout Troup in Ontario. He was the Superintendent at the McCaul Street Synagogue and first Principal at the St. Clair Avenue Synagogue. President of the Toronto Lodge, B'nai B'rith in 1939, he also founded Guelph Lodge in 1941 and Empire Lodge in 1946.

He was extremely involved in the Toronto Jewish community and sat on numerous committees and boards.

Name Access

City Council

Keyfetz, Carl

Phillips, Nathan, 1892-1976

Subjects

Politicians

Speeches, addresses, etc

Repro Restriction

Copyright is not held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.

Originally named the Cosmopolitan Club, the Primrose Club was as an elite Jewish men's club (women were allowed to join in later years) that was founded in 1909 by prominent members of the Jewish Community. The building housing the club was located at 41 Willcocks Street, and was originally built in the 1880s as the residence of the Campbell family. In 1921, the home was redesigned by Benjamin Brown and Robert McConnell as the new home of the Primrose Club. In 1959, it was appropriated by the University of Toronto and is currently the home of the University of Toronto Faculty Club. It was designated as a heritage building in 1980.

Scope and Content

File consists of an elevation drawing of the Primrose Club at 41 Willcocks Street.

Notes

See - http://magazine.utoronto.ca/feature/history-of-faculty-club-u-of-t/ - for a more detailed history of the building.

Accession consists of two editions of Hakol bulletin published by Beth Tikvah and dated September/October 2011 and November/December 2011. Contents of the bulletins are messages from the Rabbi and President, Sisterhood and Men's Club, activities, programs, donations, bereavements, as well as paid advertisements. Inserted in the November/December edition is a letter from Maurice Kulik, President, addressed to the members, informing them of proposed amendments to their constitution for consideration at the AGM. Also included is a flyer promoting their Pre-Hanukkah Choral concert on December 11, 2011.